Kenya Resources

The role and feasibility of Marine Conservation Agreements in the Western Indian Ocean (pdf, 721k)

Kenya

Status: In-depth

An in-depth law and policy analysis that assessed the potential application of Marine Conservation Agreements (MCAs) in Kenya was undertaken in 2010 as part of a comparative analysis of countries bordering the Western Indian Ocean. The complete report with all references can be downloaded from the resource box on the right.

Quick Peek — MCA Implementation: Because ownership and leasing of submerged lands is not permitted and because co-management of marine resources is a strategy still in its infancy, Kenya is at present not well positioned to implement Marine Conservation Agreements. Read more below >>

Overview

Kenya’s coastline is dominated by fringing coral reefs, mangroves and sea grass beds, with broad stretches of sandy substrate at the mouths of the county’s two largest rivers, the Tana and Athi.1,, The country has nine marine parks and reserves, established between the late 1960s and the mid 1990s, itemized in the table below.2

A sacred ibis seen from the mangroves, August 2009 blog post on wildlifedirect.org. Photo © GVI Kenya

Legal and Policy Framework

Kenya has an array of national environmental legislation that has created overlapping and conflicting mandates for managing marine and coastal issues. Much of the legislation is decades old and no longer sufficiently robust to cope with current anthropogenic pressures such as increasing coastal populations. As such, marine and coastal ecosystems have been degraded, even within protected areas.3

One of the very few modern pieces of legislation relevant to MCA and MPA implementation is the Environmental Management and Coordination Act 1999, which establishes an overarching legal and institutional framework for the management of Kenya's environment.4,5

Of particular pertinence is section 55, which acknowledges the central role of Integrated Coastal Management (ICM or ICZM) in the protection of marine and coastal systems. The Act imposes severe penalties regarding land-based marine pollution, though there are no documented cases of offenders being fined or imprisoned. Specific MPAs are established under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The Act itself has no MPA-centric provisions, but, as it becomes harmonized with the Environment Coordination and Management Act, this is likely to change.6 Relevant laws and policies are summarized below.7

Owners and Managers

Marine waters are a public property vested in the government, so ownership or leasing is not permitted.8 Further, MPAs have traditionally been founded and managed by the Government with minimal stakeholder engagement. With the advent of the Fisheries (Beach Management Unit) Regulations of 2006, however, co-management is gaining increasing prominence. Beach Management Units (BMUs) allow resources users such as fisherman to manage their landing sites and in so doing conserve resources. There are presently 33 on the Kenyan coast.9

Management of MPAs is the responsibility of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), a parastatal body of the Ministry of Tourism. The table below summaries key institutions and committees.10

MCA Implementation

Because ownership and leasing of submerged lands is not permitted and because co-management of marine resources is a strategy still in its infancy, Kenya is at present not well positioned to implement Marine Conservation Agreements. This is compounded by a number of sizeable legislative gaps, together with lax enforcement of existing legislation.4,11 Perhaps unsurprisingly, this report was unable to find a single example of a functional MCA project in the country.

There is, however, some cause for optimism. In August 2010, Kenya adopted a new constitution, Article 42 of which declares: “Every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment, which includes the right…to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations through legislative and other measures.”12,13 It is at present unclear what this means for management of the Kenyan marine environment, but it is conceivable that it could result in legislation more favorable to the adoption of MCAs. In such a scenario, the best-placed implementation partner would be the WWF, which has been running a community engagement project at the Kiunga Marine National Reserve since the mid 1990s.14 And should the new constitution grant additional control to Beach Management Units, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) could be another valuable partner. The Society is active in Kenya and helped to establish the Velondriake MCA under a comparable framework in Madagascar.9

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